Word Count → 330 :: Prompt #2: Right on the heels of the blueberry season, strawberries are ripe for picking. They're equally delicious, so head over to Bass River and try some. Otherwise, harvest some of the fruit for winter stores.

Willam picked the deep red berry from the greenery that it hung among. The fruit was placed between her lips and was bit into. The sweet juices caressed her tongue as she ate the fruit. She clearly wasn't a strict carnivore. How could she be when she had sampled fermented fruits previously? Of course that was done during rituals though. She didn't have that now. She had to keep up her beliefs by herself. She didn't have the ease to practice as she had before so she was slowly learning to make some allowances.

Châtiment had been left to wander as he would please since the stallion seemed to follow wherever Willam would go. She trusted the equine to keep himself safe and out of trouble so she focused upon the leather clad book on her lap as she partook of the fruit of the area. Her finger moved along the page as she read the Luperci transcribed scriptures. She wasn't blessed so she didn't dare to read the holy words allowed. Being alone meant she had to have her communion alone as well. Only the leaders had been allowed to read aloud and so she imagined their voices as she was reading the passages that were always read during communion.

Of course she had only meant to have a single berry but couldn't stop herself from plucking them from where they grew and placing them in her mouth. She supposed that she could justify it as having to consume more as these were in liquid form nor were they fermented. Though no doubt Willam would end up punishing herself later after she had completed her daily rituals. The only reason that she didn't go ahead and do it now was because she didn't want to end up distracting herself from her studies. If she did that then she would have to punish herself twice. But again that was likely to happen as she was putting off her deserved penance.

Word Count → 314 :: Out of Character text

Willam looked up from what she had been reading when a voice sounded from directly next to her side. "No, holy." She corrected the boy not realizing that it was actually a greeting being passed along to her. She had thought that he was referring to the book that she was holding and had simply thought that he had mispronounced the title. Willam wasn't too familiar with other languages, at least nothing other than Latin and French. She didn't realize that there were far more than just three languages in the world. But then again it wasn't like she knew much past religion either. That had been what all of her interactions had pertained to before coming to this place.

When she looked past the child she noticed that he was accompanied by a sister and a father as well. At least Willam was assuming that it was a familial unit. She didn't really know of any males that would journey about with children that were not their own. "Hello, Willam la Chemin formerly of la Chemin." She greeted the male, introducing herself. She had thought, for a moment, to include that she currently resided in Inferni but that would only be redundant as she certainly must be here to be so deep within the lands of the place.

"Is there some issue that requires my attention?" She asked as she closed her book. She couldn't think of anything that she would be needed for as she didn't know many in this place. Actually, there was only Ithiel. Would he have sent someone to find her? She wasn't certain but she didn't really imagine that he would use someone else to do his bidding. Was her presence requested before the leader then? She hadn't met who was in charge and wasn't even certain if she should be allowed to even speak with the leadership.

Word Count → 353 :: Out of Character text

Just as she had figured there were none looking for her. But that wasn't really a surprise as she knew no one really. But at least it was a comfort to know that there wasn't a meeting going on that she was missing. She wasn't missing anything in her solitude and so that was a worry that she could erase, it was one thing that she wouldn't have to end up punishing herself for. It wasn't as if she didn't already find a number of things to punish herself for. Just about anything that she did could be interpreted wrong by her and end up leading to having to pay penance.

The female shifted her position as the male came over, moving so that he might have even more access to the berries. "There is no need to apologize. It is hard to have communion without a congregation." Which had been what her reading was for. She was still trying to keep up with her faith even if she found it harder to accomplish when she was stuck on her own with it, especially when it came to activities that she was used to a multitude of others participating in as well. But even though she didn't have the religious discussions that she was used to there was at least safety and stability to be found here. With her home having been burned that was something that she could most certainly use.

Willam glanced down at the book on her lap briefly before she closed it in order to be able to give the male her full attention. The female would just end up having to punish herself and pick back up on her studying later as she had already been having difficulties with it. "It is a pleasure to meet you Helotes. Do you partake of devotion as well?" Ithiel had warned her that there weren't many around that believed. She didn't know if Helotes had though to apologize simply because she had been reading or if he perhaps understood the text that she was reading and knew the importance of it.

Word Count → 532 :: Out of Character text

Willam frowned lightly when the male said that he didn't partake of devotion. But then he explained that the only reason was because he lacked a book written in a language that he could understand. "I wrote this one myself." The female fondly stroked the cover of the book upon her lap. It had been a part of her devotion when she had been young. "Where I come from everyone wrote their own. It was part of our lessons after we had shifted. it was believed that if we wrote it ourselves then we would be much more likely to take it to heart and remember it to abide by it." Of course someone else had crafted the book itself and all she had done was to copy down the words from her mother's version. In la Chemin it was expected for everyone to have their own Bible that they had transcribed with their own hand. It made the religion that much more personal to her.

"What was that?" The female found herself asking as she didn't understand words being spoken, let alone what the language was. She only had experience with English, French, and Latin. The last one was mostly was only through devotion and communion. Some prayers and scriptures where to be spoken in Latin alone. Anything past what was used in religion she didn't understand. She had never thought that she was missing out on anything before. Religion had been her whole life up until now. Well, it was still a big part and she was having trouble speaking with others without reverting back to talks of religion since that was all that she knew. It was the only discussion within la Chemin.

Willam smiled as the children were called over and she was introduced to them. She wasn't really used to being around children. She had none of her own and her only thoughts about them was that she would one day reproduce. Of course that would only happen once leadership had set her up with a match. Though she was uncertain if that would even happen any longer since she was no longer in la Chemin. She didn't know how the leadership here took care of such things either. Maybe one day she would be able to beg an audience with them, whoever they were. Of course Willam didn't feel comfortable with that prospect either as she had never spoken directly to a leader before. She had never had to because she was born into la Chemin and the leadership knew of her devotion. She hadn't spoken to leadership in Inferni to pledge her devotion to them yet.

Willam found herself actually enjoying sitting with Helotes and his children talking about an odd number of things. She actually liked learning more about him and his children. It prompted Willam to speak of her own family and their uncertain fates. She told of the burning of la Chemin which had forced her away from home and landed her within Inferni. She had no idea as to what happened to the other members of la Chemin. She had no idea how many were able to get away and survive.